Tears in the Twilight
by Eternalmoonprincess
Summary: First in the 5 story saga, 'Romance in the Moonlight'. A Duo/Serena fic. Duo and Serena lived on the streets together. Duo has to leave to fight in the war, promising that he will come back for Serena. But then something awful happens.
1. Chapter One

TITch1

Tears in the Twilight  
  


Hiya! Ok, I know, I know, I'm suppose to be working on three other stories. And I am! Well, sort of... I just got out of my writers block, started this and another DBZ/SM fic, and I'm also working on Dire World'. I'm having a lot of fun with that one! Anyhoo, this is going to be one story in a saga. It's called The Romance in the Moonlight Saga', and it has five stories. This one is a Duo/Serena story. There will be a Wufei/Serena story, a Heero/Serena story, a Trowa/Serena story, and a Quatre/Serena story. I hope you like it!   
  
Disclaimer: insert ridiculous and/or humerous monolog with standard disclaimer included here.  
  
Chapter One:  
  
The rain beat steadily down on the empty street, but the girl didn't seem to notice or care. Her long hair was hanging in tangled, wet clumps around her. The rags that were her clothes were soaking wet, dripping red water colored by old blood that being rinsed out. They were old wounds, and most of the blood had stained permanently, so the water from the clothes ran clear after a short while. Her face was bruised and dirty, slowly becoming clean from the rain and her tears. She limped as she walked down the old street of the abandoned town. All around her was the rubble of buildings that had been destroyed just a week before, a casualty of war.  
Despite the tears running down her checks, no other emotion showed on her face. Her eyes held a deep sadness, and if you looked at her you would know that that sadness had been in her eyes for a long time, and would not easily leave. Other than that her eyes were blank. She was too tired and too bewildered to show emotion. She stumbled once, but righted herself before she fell. She kept walking, not knowing where she was going, not caring. She had no place to go. She had no one to go to.  
She had had friends, but they were gone know. They had left looking for a better place, a better life. Or they had disappeared someone, some not wanting to say good bye for fear of heartache, some hoping to come back one day, some leaving to fight in the war. Some were killed. She hadn't had many friends, not close ones, anyway. Only one could come to her mind, and more tears slipped down her cheeks as she though of him.  
'_He said he would be back for me,_' she thought, trying to ignore the pain in her heart. She walked on for about another twenty minutes before she collapsed, able to go no more due to fatigue, hungry, and the pain in her leg. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she pulled herself into a phone booth. Most of the plastic walls were cracked, but they still kept out the rain out. She fell asleep as the sky began to lighten to dark gray in the early dawn.  
  


*****  
  


The boy stood on a hill next to a huge human-shaped machine. He wore black pants and a black short-sleeved shirt that had a collar similar to a priest's. He looked down at the rubble of the town below him. A lone tear trickled down his cheek as he stared with eyes blank and unseeing.  
He had spent the past five hours searching the rubble, finding a few bodies of those who had stayed behind. He couldn't find many, most being buried too deep. There hadn't been a large population anyway, and he wondered why OZ had bothered to attack at all. The town had been poor and a good part of it had been run down, most people living on the streets if they hadn't left. Many didn't leave, for they had no where else to go, and at least where they were they had food and shelter. Not good shelter, and very little food, but it was better than nothing. The boy had learned that for himself.  
He had found no survivors, as he had hoped, but maybe some people had gotten away in time. Maybe some had had a warning. Maybe...  
But he knew it wasn't likely. They weren't near another town, and the attack had been a complete surprise to everyone. He hadn't known until he had gotten there the day before. He had scanned for life signs and found none, but still he searched. He went into other parts of the small town, some where there wasn't so much destruction, but still he found nothing. Contacting his comrades, he had found that the attack had occurred eleven days, about a week and a half, before he had gotten there. There were no records of survivors, even after searching the nearest cities for anyone who might have escaped. They were still searching, but nothing had been found.  
The boy— a man, really, despite his young age,— stared blankly at the scene before him as memories assaulted his mind.  
  
  
_~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~  
  
_ A young girl with golden hair, the color of sunshine. She had blue eyes, a beautiful cerulean color, like the clearest tropical ocean. Eyes that held an inner light, eyes that put a smile on ones face. Eyes that held wisdom. A cheerful, bubbly girl, oblivious to the devastation, chaos, ruin and sorrow around her. Oblivious to the war, or perhaps innocent and full of love and life despite of it.  
The girl was no more than ten when he first met her. Broken and alone, he lay in the streets of a town on earth. He didn't know which one. He didn't care. The place he had called home since he was young had been destroyed by OZ soldiers. The people that were the closest thing to a family he had were killed. He had seen horrors that no one should have ever seen in a life time, and he still only a boy of twelve. He wandered for awhile, living on the streets of one town or another, not really caring if he lived or died. That was when he met her.  
He had been lying on his side in a dark alley way, curled into a tight ball as if trying to block out the rest of the world. He did not cry; his tears were gone, used up. He just lay there, eyes open but unseeing, as if he was lost in thought. But his mind was blank. All he could feel was the pain.  
He felt something on his shoulder, breaking him out of his trance. He looked up, and there was the girl. Her face showed concern, and she knelt down beside him. He had to strain his neck to see all of her, but she leaned over him and he looked into her face.  
"Are you alright?" she asked. Her voice was soft and melodic, and the boy was reminded of angels that he had learned about from his last home. He stared at her, not saying anything for a few moments. His face held no emotion, though inside he was confused.  
'_Why would she care for me? I am no one. I am alone._' When he didn't respond, the girl got up and walked around so that she was in front of his face. He stared at her in wonder as she sat before him.  
"My name is Serena. What's yours?"  
The boy moved his lips a few times before he managed to croak out "Duo".  
The girl smiled gently at him, seeming to sense he was hurting. "Would you like to play with me? It would make you feel better. We could go do something fun."  
The boy, Duo, sat up slowly, muscles complaining that the ground had been too hard. He looked at her.  
"Why do you want to do something with me?" he asked.  
"Because you look sad," she answered, looking into his eyes. "Because you look like you need a friend, and I would love to be your friend. Because when you feel sad, I feel sad too." Duo just stared at her, and Serena broke out into a smile. She jumped up. "Come on," she said, grabbing his hand. "I can show you around. We can find something fun to do." He got up and Serena led him out of the alley.  
  
_~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~  
  
_That had been the first time he had met her. They had become friends quickly, and he vowed to himself to always protect her. However, after he had found the doctor, he couldn't always be there with her. He didn't tell Serena what he had to do, but only that he had to leave for awhile. The promised to meet each other again every two months on the full moon. The first time he hadn't made it had been almost a year after. He was 14 then, and she was nearly 13. She had waited the whole night in the alley they had first met, and when he didn't come, she was scared and hurt. Scared that something might happen to him, hurt that he had abandoned her. The next meeting, he had come, explaining that he wasn't able to reach the city on time before. She forgave him, and they continued their meetings.  
Until the day came when Duo made a decision. He planned to blow up his Gundam so it, (as well as himself,) wouldn't be used for a massacre. He and everyone in the building would be killed as well. He tried to reach her in time to tell her so she would know, but he couldn't. Mentally telling her not to cry for him and to be happy, he pressed the detonator. Nothing happened.  
The doctor had stepped out of the shadows, bolts in hand; he had undone the bombs. He told Duo to steal the gundam and leave. To protect the colonies and earth, and to go as Shinigami, as Duo often called himself. Duo agreed that it was much better to go as Shinigami then to be the hero in a massacre. From that point on, his life had changed.  
The next meeting he had told her that he had to leave for a long time. Serena had just turned 14.  
  
_~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~  
"_"Serena, I will not see you for a long time. There is something I must do, and I don't know when I will be back."  
Serena looked down. "I trust you, Duo. I won't ask where you are going or what it is you must do. I know that if you could, you would tell me." Tears ran down her checks, and he gently brushed them away. He knew that she could take care of herself, but still felt guilty. He also knew that he would miss her.  
"I'll come back for you," he promised. "I swear it."  
"Don't swear," she said with a forced laugh. Duo tilted her chin up with one hand so that she was looking him in the eye. His other hand traced the side of her face in a soft caress.  
"I'll come back for you," he repeated. He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against hers before turning and disappearing into the night.  
  
_~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~  
  
_ Only he hadn't. He had been to late. He had broken his promise. He said he would come back for her, and he had.... but it was too late. If only he had come sooner.... he had just wanted to protect her, and as a Gundam Pilot he feared he would only put her in more danger. But he had only put her in danger by staying away. He thought of what she must have thought when she died— that he had broken his promise? That he no longer cared for her? That he had abandoned her? — and his heart clenched. A choked sob escaped his lips, and he turned and quickly entered his gundam. Once inside, he sat in the pilot's seat, not starting up the machine. Thoughts of her assailed his mind, and he did something he had not done since the Maxwell Church had been destroyed— he cried.  
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AN: Ok, I've already started chapter two. But since there are a lot of stories I am working on and I keep switching back and forth, it might not be done for awhile. But if you like DBZ/SM x-overs, you can check out my other stories! **PLEASE REVIEW!! I DON'T CARE IF IT'S ONE WORD, JUST PLEASE REVIEW!!! I DON'T EVEN CARE IF YOU SIGN IN OR NOT!!!!! PLEASE?!?!?!?**


	2. Chapter Two

TITch2

AN: Thanks so much for all the great reviews!! I was sooo happy when I read them! I am so glad you like this so far! I hope you like this chapter too... if you don't, I'll feel like I've dissapointed you... I always get so paranoid =P  
Anyway, on to the fic!!  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
***Nine Months Later***  
Duo let out a loud whoop as the OZ base blew up. He wheeled his Gundam around and followed his companions back to the hanger where they kept their gundams. Once he had landed, he jumped out and looked over his gundam for any damage.  
"Nice job, Deathsythe." he murmured. Finding no damage, he sauntered over to his companions. Wufei was currently cursing at a dent in his Gundam's leg.  
"Hey Wu-man!" Duo said cheerfully. "Nataku take a hit?"  
"Don't call me Wu-man, Maxwell." was the only response. Duo didn't mind; he hadn't expected anything else. The others headed inside having already checked their gundams. Quatre told a team of mechanics to fix Nataku and Trowa's gundam, Heavyarms, which had also taken a blow. The pilots headed inside Quatre's mansion, which was conveniently placed over the underground hanger. Actually, the hanger had been built under the house, not the other way around. But who cared?  
Duo flopped down on the couch. "Anyone want to see the news? I bet in an hour or so, we'll be on!"  
"Nah-uh, Duo, I need sleep," Quatre said as he headed for his room.  
"Come on, Q-man! It's only Eleven P.M!"  
"Goodnight!" Quatre called from the hall. Duo grumbled, then noticed his other friends were leaving too.  
"Hey! Where is everybody going?"  
"Circus tomorrow. Have to be up early." came Trowa's short reply.   
Heero just said "Hn," and Wufei didn't see any reason to respond. Which left Duo all alone.  
"Party poopers," he muttered under his breath as he went to raid one of Quatre's refrigerators. Gathering a decent chocolate supply, he made his way to his room. Dumping all the chocolate at the foot of his bed, he sat at the head and began to munch on the candy. He looked out the window and saw that there was a full moon that night.  
_'Serena always loved the moon...' _ He quickly shoved the thought from his head. He got up and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, abandoning the rest of his chocolate haul for the next day. Ten minutes later he was in bed. He felt tired, but lay awake staring at the ceiling.  
It had been nine months since he had gone to find Serena; two years and two months since he last saw her. When he got back, he wouldn't talk to anyone. He stayed locked in his room in one of Quatre's many mansions. He hadn't eaten or slept for several days until Wufei broke the door down and Quatre had forced him to eat. He had drugged Duo too. Duo never did tell them what had happened or why he had left in the first place. After awhile, it seemed to them that the old Duo was coming back. Three months later he had seemed back to normal.  
But he wasn't. It was an act. An act to keep him sane, an act to avoid unwanted sympathy. As long as he was preoccupied playing tricks, annoying his fellow companions, and being _chased_ by his fellow companions, he had no time to grieve. No time to even think about what had happened. But at night, when he was alone, it was different. He would lose him self in the memories, and the heartache would return undaunted. He cried every night for five months. Quatre had heard him a few times, but swore never to tell anyone. Still, the blond pilot couldn't help but wonder what had made his happy-go-lucky friend so miserable.  
Not that Duo was as happy-go-lucky as he had seemed to be. He had missed Serena terribly, but what could he do? He couldn't leave. He was needed. So he made the best out of it. It kept him from growing cold and detached like Heero, or quiet and reserved like Trowa. He didn't want that. Then he would have to spend all his time with his thoughts. And he would miss Serena even more.  
After five months, the nights came less frequently when he would cry himself to sleep. He never felt any shame for crying; it seemed natural. It was a way to voice his broken soul and torn heart. Slowly, he began to move on with his life. His cheerfulness wasn't as much of an act or a routine anymore. Though he would never be the same again, he felt he was able to live again. Maybe not with the same joy of life, but at least he was living. No longer was he the empty, soulless shell behind a masquerade.  
But it still hurt so much.  
  


*****  
  


"Tsuki, your training is complete. I never would have suspected that anyone could learn so fast! Your progress was truly remarkable. You have already been sent on several minor missions. Now you are ready to go on harder ones. At this time you will leave this base and go out into the world. Find a place to stay, enroll in a school perhaps; act like a normal teenager. You will be contacted for e-mails. Understood?"  
"Hai."  
"Good. If you need anything, feel free to contact me."  
And then it was over. At age 16, one year of training had past, and now she was free. What had taken others years to master she had done in one year. Not only that, but she was better at it then some who had trained for years. Better at what?   
At piloting a gundam.  
She was Tsuki. Codename Usagi Tsukino so she would be able to live as a normal human. Once known as Serena, a girl living on the streets, she was know one of the few fighters known as Gundam pilots. And one of the best.  
The only survivor of the destruction of her home town, she had found the doctors and asked them to train her as a Gundam pilot. She never knew where Duo had gone, but she knew he had left her around the time the war had gotten worse. She swore to fight OZ, if only because without the war Duo might have stayed with her. For all she knew, he was dead now, killed by soldiers in battle or maybe a victim of a massacre. She had forced her pain away by taking her anger out on mobile dolls and training ruthlessly to become a fighter. Her pace would have killed others, but somehow she survived, and became stronger for it. She had forced all emotions away. She was now almost as emotionless as Heero on the outside. Emotions still ran rampant inside, but she didn't let them affect her actions, and no one could tell that they existed.  
A normal life. Such a thing didn't exist for her anymore, but she supposed she had to try. She had gotten an apartment close to a secret base owned by the rebellion. {AN: is that what it is called?} She stored her gundam, Eternity, in it's underground hanger. She debated enrolling in school. On one hand, she didn't want to be bothered. She had more important things to do, and had learned most of the things she would learn in school from a woman named Setsuna. Setsuna had taught her when she had time from her training as a pilot. She excelled at this as well, especially at astronomy. It was almost as if she had already learned the material but had forgotten until Setsuna had brought it up.  
So why waste time? Besides, she didn't want to socialize with people. She had become cold and detached after her town was destroyed. The thought of people her own age with their adolescent, pointless problems and their obliviousness of the real problems in life was not at all appealing. But on the other hand, she would not constantly be on missions, and she would need something to pass the time. Also, if someone knew she wasn't going to school, someone might try to force her. She was only 16 after all, though she could pass for an 18 year old, and she was considered a minor.  
Not to mention Setsuna couldn't have taught her everything. She might get useful knowledge for going to school. She decided that if she could find a way to get out of school for missions, then she would go. That didn't mean she had to have a boyfriend or make friends with silly, frivolous, airheaded girls. Hell, she didn't have to socialize at all!  
After she had unpacked everything in her new apartment, she grabbed her keys and went outside. She had decided to take a walk to clear her thoughts, having nothing else to do. The only problem with that was when you were just walking, you had time to think. And she didn't want that. Thoughts would come unbidden, and unwanted memories would resurface. She forced herself to keep her mind on her surroundings or thoughts for upcoming missions.  
She was currently walking through a nice part of town, she noted. Not the slums, like she was used to. She felt slightly out of place here, like she didn't belong. Cars drove by, kids ran around in the still warm September air. She saw some girls her own age looking in shop windows and talking about what they wanted to buy. There was an ice cream parlor, an arcade, a bakery, and several other stores. The sidewalks started to get a little more crowded as schools let out and some people got off from work. She felt uncomfortable around all the people and increased her pace. She went into a nearby park and breathed a sigh of relief. She enjoyed the solitude. She walked down an old bike trail, listening to the birds.  
Somehow, her feet brought her to the hanger her gundam was stored in. She looked up, surprised that she had not realized where she was going. She entered a hidden cave that was actually man-made, and went down the elevator to the hanger below. The elevator was disguised to look like the rock wall of the gave, and only showed itself when she said the password.  
There was no one there; there usually wasn't, for the war wasn't in this part of the world. She walked to the base of her gundam and looked up at it. This was her life now, she thought. She stood there for long time, just looking at the gundam and thinking. What would happen after the war? What did she have to live for? After her town was destroyed, she had wandered around for several weeks, lost, broken. She wanted to find Duo, but she didn't know where to start. She hadn't seen him for almost a year and a half; he might have been dead. When she had happened to pass a store with TVs in the windows, she saw a news report on the gundam pilots destroying more of OZ's bases. That was when she had decided to fight.  
Another month had passed before she had found the doctors. They had been skeptical at first about training her, but had let her use the simulator. They had seen she had great potential, and had agreed to train her. Now she was living to fight OZ and be Eternity's pilot. But what would happeb when OZ was gone? What was there to keep her alive?  
After awhile, she turned and left the hanger.  
  


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AN: Ok, I think they'll find each other next chapter.... or possibly the one after. Don't worry; ROMANCE IS COMING!!!! ^^


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